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ISSUES & IDEAS
'It Will Take Time'
Pakistan's new ambassador to the United States is urging outsiders to be patient with his country's fledgling elected government.
Husain Haqqani, a longtime aide to former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, who was murdered in December, spent the past nine years in exile in the United States criticizing President Pervez Musharraf's military regime. Now that Bhutto's party is sharing power in Pakistan, however, Haqqani since June 6 has been serving as his country's ambassador here, representing its fledgling elected government.
In a June 27 interview with National Journal, Haqqani urged outsiders to be patient with Pakistan's new leadership. And he painted an optimistic picture of a new era of collaboration between his homeland and the United States. Edited excerpts follow.
NJ: It's a pleasure to speak to you again, this time not as an exiled critic, but as the ambassador.
Haqqani: It's a serious change in context, but it's also an opportunity to put ideas into practice--that the war against terrorism can best be fought with a democracy in Pakistan.
NJ: What is your opinion of the "democracy dividend" that Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Joseph Biden, D-Del., has proposed for Pakistan, in which the United States would triple development aid while imposing strict conditions on military aid?
Haqqani: I think that the strength of the Biden plan is that it addresses the inequilibrium in Pakistan's internal politics. For far too long, Pakistan has been a one-pillar state, with the security establishment being the strong pillar and all other institutions being weak--the judiciary, parliament, political parties, media.
In the past, the U.S.-Pakistani relationship has been more of a military-to-military relationship than a nation-to-nation relationship. That pattern has not made Pakistan more secure and, in many cases, has not achieved U.S. policy objectives. It is time to make it a relationship between democracies with shared values. And we hope that Pakistan's military is undergoing changes that will enable them to be partners in Pakistan's democracy.
NJ: But just recently, the Afghanistan government charged that elements of Pakistani military intelligence were complicit in an April attempt to assassinate Afghan President Hamid Karzai.
Haqqani: The government of Pakistan considers President Karzai an ally with whom we have occasional differences. We consider him a brother, we consider him a friend, we consider him an ally. If there are individuals that our Afghan friends are able to identify as being part of the plot--the alleged plot--against President Karzai, we will act against them.
But we are still in a process of transition. Full control over all levers of power, reasserting the writ of the state in all parts of the country, is still something that we are working on. [The new] parliament was elected on the 18th of February. The prime minister was sworn in on the 24th of March. We are looking at a government that has been in office for the months of April, May, and June.
What we are seeing is a rush to judgment and a failure to understand that a transition is not the same thing as drift. Even an American transition takes several weeks, where you have strong institutions. In Pakistan, we are laying the foundations of new decision-making process. Before we make the decisions, we have to decide how the decisions will be made!
Within this time, the country has accomplished many things. Many people who were imprisoned without trial have been released, or their families were notified of who is being held. A comprehensive plan is being made for dealing with the tribal areas [along the Afghanistan-Pakistan frontier]. The federal budget has been passed--come on, compare that with the U.S. legislative process!
It is in Pakistan's interest to have a stable Afghanistan. If there are elements inside Pakistan that do not support our policies in the war against terror, we will deal with them. It's only a matter of time before we do it. It's just that the government has hardly been in office for three months. It inherited a serious economic crisis. World food prices had doubled, the oil prices had doubled, and we are trying to build a democracy at the same time.
And the government comprises a large number of people who have spent the greater part of the last eight years either in prison or in exile. It is to the credit of all these people that they have shown no bitterness and that there has been no desire for vengeance. That said, it will take time for these people to grow into their job in government.
NJ: What about the long-standing accusations of corruption against the leaders of both parties in the current ruling coalition, Asif Zardari of the Pakistan People's Party, who is Benazir Bhutto's widower, and Nawaz Sharif of the Pakistan Muslim League?
Haqqani: Every time Pakistan has had an election, the political parties that are labeled as incompetent and corrupt get millions of votes. Are millions of Pakistanis stupid? And are the only people who know what's good for Pakistan a handful of people in Washington, D.C., and a handful of collaborators with dictatorial rule in Islamabad?
Is there corruption in Pakistan? I'm sure there is--under military rule, under civilian rule--just as there is corruption in the United States. But the charges against Mr. Zardari and Mr. Sharif and other political leaders have always been politically motivated.
I'm just trying to communicate how things have changed in Pakistan. A lot of people are not acknowledging that change. There's a new direction, but that direction will take time to get to a destination.
NJ: How much time do you have, since both sides of the U.S.-Pakistani relationship have voiced increasing frustration?
Haqqani: I think that the frustration on the U.S. side has partly to do with baggage from the last several years. A lot of time, energy, and resources were invested in individuals and policies that did not work, and now the [U.S.] election cycle is here.
From the Pakistani side, there is frustration because the entire terrorism policy has resulted in consequences for Pakistan. The jihadi groups have turned with increasing virulence against Pakistan. Benazir Bhutto was the victim of that phenomenon.
Let me say, as the new ambassador here, Pakistan and the United States in the past have always had cycles of great expectations and massive disappointment. This time around, we will not let that happen. It's a vicious cycle of blaming your ally. There is a different tone you need for allies with whom you have differences than for countries that are your enemies. Pakistan is not America's enemy, and America is not Pakistan's enemy.
NJ: But even Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama has expressed impatience with Pakistan, saying that if Osama bin Laden were located on Pakistani territory, and the Pakistani government failed to act, he would act unilaterally.
Haqqani: In an election year, a lot of comments are actually rhetorical statements in response to hypothetical questions, and I don't think that we should consider them as significant as the substantive policy choices. Sometimes political statements do not always stand up to the scrutiny of actual policy. It's very easy to say, 'Let's bomb all the bad guys. Let's kill them all.' But do we know where they are?
Unilateral action inside Pakistan by American troops would not be a good idea, for the simple reason that it will not get the desired results. If there is actionable intelligence on the location of Osama bin Laden in Pakistan, we will act. If there is actionable intelligence on the location of Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan, we expect Afghanistan and [the International Security Assistance Force] to act. The truth is, there is not actionable intelligence. If we had it, we would all do it.
NJ: U.S. anxiety is still high over the peace deals that the Pakistani government is working out with the pro-Taliban elements in the frontier area. Can you comment?
Haqqani: The concerns have a historic background: Previous agreements did not work. But the new government has laid down certain principles: Any agreement should be predicated on a commitment not to make attacks in Pakistan, across the border, or around the world; and it should involve the withdrawal of tribal support for foreign fighters, meaning Al Qaeda.
The government of Pakistan has resolved that we will pursue political agreements with those who are reconcilable; but those who are irreconcilable, we are prepared to fight them. If an agreement will result in any form in strengthening the militants, we will not go through with it.
NJ: But your primary concern must be peace for the people of Pakistan, even at the price of insecurity for Afghanistan or the United States?
Haqqani: The population of Pakistan and the population of Afghanistan are joined at the hip. We have learned from history that if we do not ensure an end to terror in our entire region, there will be blowback that will hurt us. It does not help Pakistan if there are people in Pakistan plotting and planning against the United States. It does not help Pakistan if Afghanistan is destabilized by people operating out of Pakistani territory. That is why we want to finish them off.